Happy 2nd Birthday Maddie!

Our little girl is TWO!  My oh my how time flies when you have kids!  I remember my dad telling me when I was pregnant that once I have the baby time will just fly by.  He was right (he was right about most things).  I love this age (we could do without the occasional tantrum, though).  I will write more in detail  what Maddie is up to these days in another post-for now I will stick to the party.

On Maddie’s actual birthday we spent getting ready for her party the next day.  We shopped for nearly two hours at Wal-Mart, so needless to say, by the time we got to the counter to check out, we had opened up various packages to keep her entertained and FULL.  We decided to keep it a little smaller than last year’s party and it was perfect.  The theme this year was Curious George and it turned out so cute.  Maddie has always had a love for monkeys and she goes crazy for Curious George these days.  Her Daddy and I made a George cake.  I searched pinterest for ideas and came across this.  It was much simpler than we thought and the cake turned out great!  I made dipped marshmallow pops again and just used lots of red, blue, and yellow to stick with the theme.   Maddie wore a bright yellow shirt with George and balloons hanging from the number 2.  I found the iron on transfer on Ebay and bought the shirt at Hobby Lobby for super cheap.  Party Junction here in Greenville had Curious George party supplies so I was able to pick up the plates, napkins, and balloons from there.

For food, we had spicy ham biscuits, pasta salad, buffalo chicken dip, a fruit platter, Monkey Munch, and chewy banana oatmeal cookies.   Everything turned out great!

Maddie was showered with lots of gifts on her big day.  She got some beautiful clothes from Omi, Mimi, and Aunt Natalie that I can’t wait for her to wear this spring and summer.  I think her favorites this year by far are her new princess tent, doll stroller, and her new ride on tractor from Aunt Teresa. 

Maddie is one blessed baby big girl!  Happy Birthday Maddie Moo!  We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Another year has gone by and Dad is not here to celebrate his birthday. He would have been 55. Still young. Way too young to be gone already. There isn’t a single day that I don’t think about him and all the wonderful things he is missing. He would have been an amazing “poppy” to Maddie and Carter. They would have rocked his world and he would have loved every minute of it. Last year we had a beautiful tribute to him with all of our family, but this year it was a whole lot simpler. We grilled ribs, ate cake, got out his tractor, and sent balloons off to heaven. We sure do miss you, Dad.

Birthday Celebrations (lots of them)

As most of you know, Gabe, my mom, and myself all have birthdays within four days of each other. We do a lot of celebrating for a week (or more). The weekend before our birthdays, Omi came to visit us. She said it was to celebrate our birthdays, but I got this feeling that she really came to see Maddie ;) Of course Omi came bearing many gifts for everyone, including baby Carter who could be here any day now! She took us to lunch on Saturday at Fatz Cafe and then dinner on Sunday at Arizona Steakhouse. Both were so yummy. Maddie really is good when we go out as long as we bring lots of food for her to enjoy and she gets to taste some off our plates, too. We love to have Omi (and Pop-Pop) visit us! Here are a few pictures of Omi's visit!

The goods from Omi. It was like another baby shower

Trying on one of Carter's sweaters
Talking to Carter telling him to come out so we can play!Future doctor? Omi bought Maddie some scrubs and
she is playing with the doctor kit she got for her birthday


Four generations!

During the course of the next several days we celebrated all of our birthdays in different ways. I got flowers delivered to the house from Gabe for the first time EVER. It was so thoughtful of him, but honestly I told him to not do it again because they are too expensive!!! I know, I know....I am cheap. Hello, med school budget! Maddie got me new pearl earrings and that evening, Gabe and I went to dinner while Mimi stayed with Maddie.

Maddie was pretty excited about Mommy's birthday money!

Two days later, we said Happy Birthday to Mimi. I baked her a red velvet cake with homemade buttercream icing and Maddie drew a beautiful picture for her to be surprised when she came home from work. I made her a coffee mug with pictures of Maddie all around it. Of course she loved it!

And finally, Gabe's birthday was Friday. I made him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then that afternoon met him at the gym to workout where I gave him his new Ipod armband for him to use. I also told him we could make a trip to Charleston to go to the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in April as part of his birthday. So we are hoping to plan that as well. That afternoon we had some family time outside playing with Maddie and Brady. Maddie loves bubbles! Finally, that night we went to dinner at Sabrosa Mexican grille and enjoyed Margaritas (ok I enjoyed them) and some delicious food.

The celebrating was not over quite yet. On Sunday, Natalie and Ryan came over to eat lunch and eat cake that mom made for all of us. We put 1-0-8 on the cake because that is the three of ours combined ages. Wheww what a tiring week. No more birthdays for a while....well until baby Carter gets here. Geez, we are going to have a busy March in the future!